The proposal has drawn criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, which has alleged Gusman is trying to expand what it says is already "the largest per-capita jail in America," although it says only about 2 percent of arrests in the city are for violent felonies.

Gusman's plan calls for constructing some new buildings, remodeling others and adding additional temporary modular units to reduce overcrowding. It also calls for consolidating within the prison's perimeter some facilities, such as the kitchen and prison intake center, that have been outside the perimeter since the complex flooded after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The ACLU has said Gusman is trying to create a complex with 5,862 beds, but he has said his goal is 4,300 beds, down from about 7,500 before Katrina.

Gusman said in a news release Wednesday that the complex houses more than 3,500 inmates, "spread out over five-plus city blocks and in temporary or rehabbed buildings." In fact, he said, he has only 3,552 beds since four storm-damaged buildings were demolished. Although new buildings with almost 3,300 beds are planned, several current buildings and tents will be demolished or closed, he said.

Gusman said that in 2009, his office processed more than 63,000 people arrested by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, and a 4,300-bed prison complex is needed "for the foreseeable future" to "protect the lives and property of our city's residents."

ACLU Executive Director Marjorie Esman said a better option is releasing large numbers of prisoners arrested for petty crimes or traffic offenses.

Because the city must pay Gusman $22.39 a day to feed and care for each prisoner, regardless of why the person is in jail, reducing the prison population could save the financially struggling city much-needed money, Esman said.

At the request of Councilwoman Stacy Head, whose district includes the site, the council deferred the issue until at least its July 1 meeting. The council must take action by its July 15 meeting.

After council President Arnie Fielkow announced the deferral and said the council would not hear any speakers on the issue Thursday, more than a dozen audience members left the chamber.

Head said after the meeting that she hopes a "working group" comprising representatives from Gusman's office, the council, the Landrieu administration and the ACLU or other community organizations can decide by July 1 on a minimum number of beds, with a decision on whether a higher number should be allowed later to be deferred for further study.

Head hopes the committee also will consider alternatives to the city's current per-diem system of paying to operate the prison. The city budgeted $20.5 million this year for Gusman's operation, but his spending is running about 16 percent over budget.

Advocates of a smaller jail say even the current capacity of about 3,500 beds is inflated for a city of about 350,000 people, adding that Jefferson Parish, which now is more populous than New Orleans, has a jail with fewer than 1,000 beds.

Having an oversized jail makes police more disposed to arrest people for low-level offenses, such as municipal or traffic violations, that instead could result in a ticket, the advocates say.

In Baltimore, another high-crime city that is home to about 300,000 more people than New Orleans, the jail capacity was at 3,800 in 2004, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. Washington, D.C., a city about 250,000 people larger than New Orleans, had a jail population of about 3,500 inmates in 2004.